Adventures in genealogy

The Millers’ Tale: Part Three

The previous posts have discussed two other Miller families. Part One focused on the Miller family related to Carl Mach and his wife, Sophia Miller Mach. Part Two was about my great-grandmother Elizabeth Miller and her brother, Emil Miller, and his family. But there is yet another Miller family with a “connection” of sorts to my family.

To add to my Miller confusion, in 1910 Elizabeth Miller (she would not marry Louis Pater for a few more months) is also living on Palethorp Street at #2543. She is listed as a border with another family named Miller – Otto, age 32, wife Stella, 28, and their children Victor, 4, and Jennie, 7. All are Polish and born in Russia. Also living there as a border is Olga Olchak, who will serve as a witness with Emil Miller to Elizabeth’s marriage to Louis Pater. So who is Otto?

In trying to research Otto, I have concluded that the name is incorrect in the 1910 enumeration. I believe he is actually Adolph Miller (the German “Adi” could sound like “Otto”) and daughter Jennie is actually “Hennie,” short for Henrietta. These names and ages match up with the Adolph Miller family in the 1920 and 1930 census. Although the family lives in the same neighborhood and their names and ages match the family that Elizabeth lived with in 1910, I have no proof that this is the same family. I have not been able to locate their arrival records to see who their relative in the US was. But, I did uncover one other interesting fact that might link them to the other Millers – according to Adolph’s draft registration, he was born on 24 October 1877 in Żyrardów.

What is the result of this research besides additional questions? My “conclusion” sounds like the ending to an old-time radio serial – Is Sophia Mach a cousin of the Pater’s? Is Emil Miller the brother of Elizabeth? Are they siblings of Sophia Mach? Is Elizabeth a cousin to her own husband or his parents? Are any of the three Miller families related to each other? Stay tuned next week for more of The Millers’ Tale!

We have the Miller’s associated with Mr. Mach – his wife, Sophia (b. 1871) as well as her brothers John (b. 1881) and Carl/Charles (b. 1875) and possibly their mother, Kathalina/Karolina (b. 1845). There are also two Miller wives – Maria (b. 1876) and Magdalena (b. 1877). Magdalena was married to Carl and is buried with the Mach’s.

Here are two men named Karl Mueller coming to the US courtesy of Carl Mach – friend, cousin, or brother-in-law?

Next are my Miller siblings, Elizabeth and Emil. Elizabeth (b. 1891) married Louis Pater in 1910 and had five sons in Philadelphia: Henry (1912), Walter (1913), Louis (1916), Victor (1919), and Eugene (1920). Emil (b. 1881) married Sophia (b. 1885) and had at least three children: Sophia (1905), Edward (1907), and Helen (1909). Apparently only Edward and his mother died in the United States while the others returned to Poland. Sophia may have had a sister, Anna Trepke (b. 1890), who only stayed in the US for a few months.

Adolph, or Otto, Miller is the third Miller family whose only connection to the above two families are the same home town, living on the same street, and renting a room to Elizabeth Miller. Adolph (b. 1877) married Stella (b. 1882) and had at least two children: Henrietta (1903) and Victor (1906).

Three Miller families, two towns (Żyrardów – Philadelphia), and one street – the 2500 block of Palethorp Street. Miller may be a common name, but it would be a significant coincidence if there is no family connection among these families. Only more research will prove it! Searching for a common surname has proven to be challenging, but with a little persistence you can slowly peel back the layers of history and the mystery that surrounds family history. Or in this case – the family history of three families.

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One Response

Great series!Too many coincidences for them to not be related. I suspect you’ll keep digging until you figure out just what the connection is. Using the relative information on immigration records has helped me greatly with my husband’s Italian family.